St. Paul’s United Church Sunday, July 17, 2011

Twins! – Rev. David Mundy

Genesis 25:19-34 Genesis 28:10-19a

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you followed the National Hockey League playoff run to the Stanley Cup this year you will know that two of the star players for one of the teams in the finals, the Vancouver Canucks, are brothers. Henrik and Daniel Sedin are an impressive pair who play on the same line. More than just being brothers, they are twins and it is hard to tell them apart physically. Remarkably they have managed to play on the same team at every level of hockey development, including the NHL. We have heard through the years that twins often have an uncanny ability to be in tune with each other and this translates into the Sedin brothers amazing connection on the ice. It’s as if they can read each other’s minds.

During their pro careers the twin brothers have scored almost exactly the same number of points, although one is more of a playmaker and the other a scorer. Last year Henrik won the scoring championship and this year it was Daniel’s turn. And last year Henrik won the Art Ross Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the league and this year Daniel was a finalist for the award.

You have probably heard of the studies of twins which suggest that this almost telepathic connection is quite common. And researchers have discovered that twins who were separated early in life often grow up to work in similar fields, to marry similar people, to even have the same number of children, even though they have lived in different locations and been unaware of the other.

Of course, not all twins have this unique bond. Remember the brothers in the comedy movie Twins, starring Arnold Swarzenegger and Danny DeVito? Separated at birth, they are not identical. One grows up to be an impressive physical specimen, with an innocence about the way the world works. The other becomes a nasty, conniving con man. Just in case you haven’t figured it out, Swarzenegger is the larger twin. When they reunite in adulthood, it is DeVito’s character who sees the opportunity to exploit the improbability of their situation. It is actually a clever and funny film.

Did you remember that there are twins in the bible? The only passing reference in the New Testament is to the disciple Thomas who is identified as a twin.

There are two other sets of twins, both described in the book of Genesis. By far the better known are the brothers Esau and Jacob who were born to Isaac and Rebekah. The story of these twins is a vivid and intriguing drama which unfolds over what is a big chunk of Genesis –nearly a quarter of the book.

It may have seemed unusual that we heard two passages from this story today, but for four weeks the lectionary takes us through some of the highlights and lowlights of these twins, Jacob and Esau. We missed last week’s passage about the birth of the boys, so today we “played catch-up” along with hearing the passage for the day.

They were born almost simultaneously but the key was that Esau was born first because in ancient cultures this immediately meant that he was first in the family line, the one who received the birthright. Esau arrived in this world a redhead and he was hairy from the start – in fact his name means “shaggy.”

As you heard, Jacob emerged immediately afterward, holding on clutching his brother’s heel. It was a portent of things to come because these were not “sympatico” twins. Jacob grew up to be Danny DeVito, grasping and clutching at whatever he could get in life, even if it meant outwitting his brother and deceiving his father. As a young man Jacob took advantage of Esau’s hunger to bargain for his birthright, a huge mistake on Esau’s part. Then Jacob tricks his father into bestowing his blessing on him rather than Esau.

There is a huge price to pay for his cunning. Because of Esau’s rage Jacob is forced to flee his family to go God only knows where. One night he camps out using a stone for a pillow, and remember, this is in the days before chiropractors. How low can you get?

But that night Jacob has what must be one of the most famous dreams of all time, in which there is a ladder reaching up to heaven and angels ascending and descending. If you ever wondered where the inspiration came for Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven, here it is!

Jacob probably felt as far from anything good in his life, including God, as he could possibly be. Not only was he literally in the wilderness, he was without reference points and purpose as a person. Yet we are told that he finds comfort and courage in this dream. God stands beside him and says: “ Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go . . . I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

So what are we supposed to take from this story which scholars tell us dates from as far back as 1600 B.C.? It is fascinating that when these stories are told in the Old Testament we aren’t just given the laundered version of the great heroes of faith. There is all the ugliness of human nature, the striving and the competition and deceit of the people through whom God works nonetheless to fulfills God’s purposes.

And do you think that perhaps we all have a twin? Not necessarily a physical twin or even the “evil twin” which shows up regularly in literature and drama, including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But most of us would admit that there is a shadow side to our best intentions and our personal strengths. One of the great psychologists of the twentieth century, Carl Jung, wrote extensively about dreams. He also wrote about the shadow aspect of our personalities, that part of our unconscious mind which has to do with weaknesses and shortcomings which we push back into the darkness and which have the potential to cripple us.

Sometimes of course we make those catastrophic life choices which take us on a destructive path and then wonder how we got there. Over the past month several of us here at St. Paul’s have been working with a man who attended here for a time with his lovely wife and beautiful child. When the baby was born he showed up at my study door, enthusiastic about reconnecting with the church and having her baptized. A bright guy, he seemed quite sincere and felt that he was entering a different phase of a sometimes troubled life. Unfortunately he had his demons which haunted him and his marriage and eventually the relationship collapsed under the strain. For some reason he became quite bitter about the church and, presumably, God.

When he showed up here again a while ago he was destitute, sleeping in his car, desperate for assistance, which we provided. Sleeping in your car because you have no other place to lay your head must be the modern day equivalent of having a stone for a pillow. He even slept in our building a couple of nights. He eventually scraped together enough money to fly out West in the hope of getting a fresh start. We can pray that life will become better for him again and that he will be open to God’s presence in his life.

Well, our stories are not necessarily dramatic, or catastrophic – thank God -- although you might be surprised at how often folk feel that they are between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

Our shadow twin might take on a different form. It may be the persistent, self-critical voice which tells us that we aren’t really good enough, and that we may even be frauds, despite everything we have accomplished in life. A surprising number of us live with deep insecurities which overshadow our sense of well being.

We may find ourselves in circumstances that we never thought would happen, and it changes our perception of who we are. We are suddenly faced with illness after a lifetime of good health and we feel so vulnerable. Who is this person who is now so dependent on doctors and other health care professionals?

It may be something that we actually looked forward to, such as retirement. Yet when it arrives we realize how much of our identity and our sense of purpose has been attached to our work and we can feel as though we are wandering in the wilderness

In all these situations of life the “shadow twin” threatens to get the upper hand.

The story of the twins Esau and Jacob, and of Jacob’s dream reminds us that we can return to our true selves, by the grace of God. Whether we have somehow managed to self-destruct through our own choices, or feel that we have been blind-sided by circumstances beyond our control, God stands beside us. There is no place we can go, no mistake we make, no change in life path that can separate us from God.

As Christians we proclaim that it is in Christ that God has stood with us and walks with us still. Somehow, out of what appears to be the terrible defeat of the cross, there comes the Good News of the resurrection and all the possibilities of new and abundant life. We are offered the promise that when we acknowledge our wrongdoing, our meanness, our human frailty we are still loved and we are forgiven in Christ and can start again.

And if God loves us so deeply, so fiercely, then surely this changes the way we view those around us and even ourselves. That forgiving, reconciling love calls us to heal, to make amends, to let go of the past in our own relationships and even to make peace with ourselves.

Eventually Jacob makes the decision to return home and “face the music” with his brother Esau. By that time he had established a new life, marrying and prospering, but he was still afraid of rejection. But Esau, the stay-at-home twin comes out to meet him and welcomes him. We’re told that Esau embraces Jacob and they kiss one another and weep.

One of the lectionary passages from the New Testament we didn’t hear today is from the apostle Paul’s letter to the community of Christians in Rome. Here are a few of those verses from Romans 8 which really do seem to fit:

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ . . . For in hope we were saved.

Amen!